Drawing Circles in the Sun

The following refers to the Grape Lesson in Draw Write Now, Book 2.

When my mother prepared her drawings to show the publisher for the first time, there was one drawing in the stack that caught my eye—a cluster of grapes, simply drawn with rows of circles positioned like racked billiard balls. Grapes by Marie Hablitzel, Draw Write Now, Book 2 I hadn’t seen the lesson in years. My reaction was, “Mom, you made this drawing? I remember drawing this, but not with you.” Holding her drawing in my hand, my thoughts went to a quiet moment on a sizzling hot summer day when I was six or seven years-old:

After cooling off in the wading pool, I used my wet fingers to draw circles on the cement patio. The challenge was to draw four circles, all the same size, lined up in a row. I could make two the same size, but the third was too high or the fourth too narrow. No problem, the circles vanished in the summer heat. I tried again and kept trying, over and over, until I could draw the four perfect circles. With all the practice, I got quicker and had enough time to make a second row of circles—this had to be done before the first row evaporated. It became a race. Draw the line of four circles, then three, then two and one. Hurrah! Oh, the satisfaction when I was able to beat the sun!

It’s memories like this that fuel my passion for Marie’s lessons. The beauty of teaching a lesson is knowing that there are subtle things that will stay with the child, long after the drawing is finished. 

See Marie’s collection of lessons, Draw Write Now.